detail from: KRK Art dizajn

GIANTS OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION 7

Dr. SIMO JELAČA

VUK STEFANOVIĆ-KARADŽIĆ (1787-1864), reformer of the Serbian language

Vuk Stefanović-Karadžić was born in Tršić, educated in Karlovci and Belgrade, and worked most of his life in Vienna. Vuk said of the language that "it is the breadwinner of the people, we speak and write with it", and Đura Daničić said of Vuk that he lived for future centuries. In Serbia, Vuk experienced Turkish rule, Obrenović and Karađorđević (Sultans and kings). When he got sick, he was treated in Novi Sad and Budapest. He was a teacher in Belgrade, a customs officer in Kladovo, and in 1813, when Serbia again fell under Turkish rule, Vuk went to Vienna, where he studied Slovenian languages, Latin and German, and where he remained almost his whole life, because for which he himself said that Serbia needs more there than in Serbia. Vuk Karadžić left behind numerous works, which represent the most complete overview of the life of the Serbian people, their beliefs, customs, creativity and history. These are: Serbian Dictionary, Serbian Grammar, First Serbian Primer, Translation of the New Testament, Montenegro and Montenegrins, Kovčežić for History, Language and Customs of the Serbs, Life and Customs of the Serbian People, Life of Ajduk Veljka Petrović, The First Year of the Serbian War on the Day, Miloš Obrenović, The Second Year of the Serbian War on Daije, the Soviet Union, Serbian folk songs, Serbian folk stories, Serbian folk proverbs, etc. Vuk Karadžić had exceptionally gifted creative qualities, persistent and consistent. With the help of Jernej Kopitar and Jakov Grim, he got into the scientific meaning of what he does. He enriched Yugoslav cultural history with his work. He was respected by the world's greatest minds. He was a member of the Petrograd Society of Lovers of Slovenian Literature from 1819, the Academy of Sciences in Petrograd awarded him the Silver Medal for Scientific Merit in 1820, the Cracow Learned Society elected him a member in 1820, he was a guest of Grimm and Goethe in 1823 and received an honorary doctorate at University of Jena in 1823, member of the Göttingen learned society since 1825, winner of the gold medal of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1842, corresponding member of the Beck Academy of Sciences since 1848, the Berlin Academy since 1850, and the Petrograd Academy since 1851.

Vuk Stefanović-Karadžić was a linguist, writer, translator, critic and polemicist, historian, geographer and founder of Serbian ethnographic science. He is the creator of the most perfect alphabet in the world, which was admired by Bernard Shaw and many others. He conquered the past and opened the horizons of the future. He traveled a lot, got to know the cultures of many peoples and opened the world to the beauty and richness of oral folk creativity. UNESCO declared 1987 (the bicentenary of V.S.K.'s birth) as the Year of Vuk Stefanović Karadžić.

MICHAEL FARADAY (1791-1867), English scientist

Faraday is remembered in science for numerous discoveries, among which are the first electric motor in 1821, liquid chlorine in 1823, the principle of operation of generators, transformers and dynamo machines, the law of electrolysis, as well as the Faraday effect. Many scientists consider him the most influential physical science researcher of all time.

Applying the process of cooling and depressurizing liquid gases, he accidentally discovered chlorine, and he discovered benzene in 1825. He discovered the electric motor by examining electromagnetic rotation. Faraday practically perfected Christian Oersted's knowledge about the deflection of a magnetic needle under the influence of electric current. Thus, he came to the conclusion that by rotating a magnet, he can produce electricity, which he confirmed in 1831.

Before Faraday, electricity was considered a fluid, which he rejected and discovered electromagnetic induction. When he directed his research in the direction of light and gravity and their relationship to electromagnetism, he came to the discovery of the so-called "Faraday effect" in 1845, by which he confirmed that polarized light can be produced with the help of magnets. Later, James Clerk Maxwell would confirm that light is indeed a type of electromagnetic radiation and even derive a mathematical expression for Faraday's law of induction.

In the domains of chemistry, Faraday established the nature of hydrolysis in 1833, stating (1) that in the process of electrolysis, the amount of substance on the electrode is proportional to the current used and (2) that the amounts of different substances on the electrode are cathode and anode, at the same amount of current , are proportional to their equivalent weight.

SAMUEL MORSE (1791-1872), American inventor

Morse code, which is based on an electrical signaling system, is known all over the world. Samuel Morse created it in 1832-1836 while working at New York University as a professor. He convinced the US government to establish an experimental telephone line from Washington to Baltimore, and during 1844 Morse successfully sent his first message using coded dots and lines. Shortly thereafter, the Morse telegraph system was adopted worldwide.

NIKOLAI LOBACHEVSKY (1792-1856), Russian mathematician

Nikolai Lobachevsky was the first to introduce geometric theories into mathematics. He was born in Nizhny Novgorod, and at the age of 22 he became a professor at Kazan University, where he worked all his life. He did not receive any outstanding awards for his achievements.

CHARLES DARWIN (1809-1881), English naturalist

As a young man, Darwin managed to be accepted into the research team of naturalists and botanists on the ship "Beagle" in the regions of South America in 1831. During that time, he left his studies. During the five-year expedition, he conducted geological and botanical research on the Galapagos Islands. In a given region, ten islands are relatively isolated from each other, so Darwin made observations about them by comparing them. He noticed that on some islands there is flora and fauna of the same species, but with certain variations, in the same organisms. Finches had 14 different beaks. He noticed that these differences are the result of adaptation to food conditions (hunting for fish, insects, etc.). He soon concluded that it was a consequence of development (evolution), which was not immediately accepted. Reading the work of Thomas Malthus from 1798, he realized that only those individuals that are better adapted to the given conditions survive. Changes in natural conditions lead to adaptations, which lead to the creation of new species.

Darwin's findings met with resistance from religious viewpoints, which considered human beings to be God's creation, according to the interpretations of the Bible. Darwin, however, claimed that man also developed and adapted to the environment in which he lived for thousands of years. He kept his discoveries for about 20 years, and published them only in 1858, together with his like-minded Alfred Russell Wallack (1823-19130) (Origin of species by means of natural selection). At that time, Darwin had already gained many supporters, and he explained his hypothesis in the work "The Descent of Man", which dealt with the evolution of man from other species.

PETAR PETROVIĆ-NJGOŠ (1813-18510, Serbian and Montenegrin poet

Njegoš was born in Njeguši in Montenegro as a hereditary prince. Bishop Petar I Petrović took him with him in 1825 to prepare him for his successor and already at the age of 17 he became the administrator of Montenegro. He immediately established the Council, established the People's Court, increased the payment of taxes and began the training of the "Perjanik" (king's guard) and the police. At the same time, he laid the foundations of modern education. Petar Petrović - Njegoš is remembered as a great poet and Bishop of Montenegrin Rade. During his lifetime, he built his own pedestal of immortality with his grandiose work. In Serbian literature, he is regarded as the greatest poet, and in Montenegro as her greatest son. He wrote his works in verse, of timeless literary value. His most important works are: Gorski Vjenac, Luča Mikrokosma, Dedication to the Dust of the Father of Serbia, Svobodijad (translation of the first canto of the Iliad), Pustinjak Cetinjski, Pesma and others. For all Montenegrins, Njegoš was and remains a myth, and Gorski Vjenac is known by heart to almost every Montenegrin.

JOSIP PANČIĆ (1814-1888), Serbian botanist

Josip Pančić was born in Ugrine, and was educated in Gospica, Rijeka, Zagreb and Pest. He received his doctorate in Pest in 1842, and wrote his dissertation in Latin. He came to Serbia in 1846 and first worked in Negotin, then in Jagodina and Kragujevac. After arriving in Serbia, he became a Proto-Slav and changed his name to Josif, in order to avoid Austro-Hungarian persecution. His wife was Milka and they had seven children.

Pančić was considered a distinguished scientist and pedagogue, and he was appointed a professor in Belgrade in 1853. From 1878, he was the president of the Serbian Scientific Society, and with the establishment of the Serbian Royal Academy, in the same year, he was elected its first president. He published scientific works on animals and plants, as well as on the meteorite in Sokobanja. Pančić's greatest love was botany, where he worked for 42 years. In 1871 he published a work on the flora of Serbia, as well as in 1874 and 1884 a work on the flora in Bulgaria and in 1883 a work on the flora in the vicinity of Belgrade. Many of Pančić's works were printed abroad, which he himself then translated into the Serbian language. He corresponded with many prominent botanists of his time (Roberto de Viziani). During his 42 years of work, he discovered 121 species, 50 varieties and 7 forms, which were new to the science of that time. Of these, 64 species of plants are accepted worldwide, to date.

When Pančić arrived in Bajina Bašta in 1855, he heard from the peasants that spruce grows there, which does not grow anywhere else in the world. In 1865, he founded and was recognized for two types of spruce, which really do not grow anywhere in the world except on Tara, in the vicinity of Bajina Bašta. Those spruces are really different from all conifers. Pančić published his work in German in 1876 on Pinus Omorika. This same spruce was later classified by Purkine in the Spruce genus. This spruce, called Pančić's spruce, grows only in the middle course of the Drina, and has close relatives in Asia. It is characterized by a tall trunk, narrow and sparse branches and usually grows on the edges of forests. It was recently discovered near the Mileševka River.

GEORGE BOOLE (1815-1864), English mathematician

George Boole was the first mathematician to express logic in the form of algebra. He was working as a professor of mathematics in Ireland, when in 1847 he produced a thesis in the field of differential equations. He also introduced new symbols to the equations of logic. Boolean logic is expressed with only two digits (0 and 1), as binary numbers, which became the basis for the modern digital system used in computers. The so-called Boolean algebra is known in the professional world.

JAMES JOULE (1818-1920), English physicist

Joule is the author of the First Law of Thermodynamics in 1840, which also derived the first principle of conservation of energy. Joule described this principle together with William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) as the Joule-Thomson effect.

James Joule never studied, he worked in his father's brewery and became interested in the relationship between current, resistance and the heat produced by current. Thus, in 1840, he determined the connection between current and resistance in the form of generated heat, thereby confirming the possibility of converting one type of energy into another. He also established that heat can be obtained by mechanical work and successfully measured different forms of energy. He summarized the results of his work in the work "On the mechanical equivalent of heat" in 1849, which brought him world fame. By studying the heat of gasses, he determined the calculated velocity of molecules, which is the basis of the Joule Thomson effect. He discovered that gases cool during expansion, which led to the first industrial use of refrigerators.

The first law of thermodynamics reads: that energy can be transferred from one form to another, which means that in nature there is always the same amount of energy, which neither arises nor disappears, but only changes forms. At the same time, independently of each other, Julius Robert von Mayer (1814-18780) and Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (1821-1894) reached the same conclusions, for which they also gained scientific fame.

HERMAN HELMHOLTZ 1821-1894), German physicist

Helmholtz was born in Potsdam, Prussia, and worked as a professor in Königsberg, Bonn and Heidelberg (1849-1858). From 1871 he was a professor in Berlin, distinguished himself in the fields of physiology, physics and mathematics, as well as in the fields of human vision, hearing and the nervous system. He created the first ophthalmoscope, an instrument for examining the inside of the eye. He was the first in the world to explain hearing and measure the speed of nerve impulses. He also distinguished himself in the research of the spectrum of bright colors, as well as the conservation of energy in human muscles. He also researched electric current in galvanic batteries. The scientist Mihailo Pupin expressed the highest opinion about Helmholtz in his work "From Immigrant to Inventor".

                                                                                                To be continued...

SHARE THIS PAGE ON: